Splash
Page:As she
approached the large stone and clapboard house on the corner of High and
Elm Streets, she was surprised to see no lights on in the windows.

She
slowed the car down as she came to the end of her driveway.Yellow police tape stretched across the cement lane. Laura felt a
knot of fear building in her stomach.Before she could park, Con Riley was walking toward the driver’s
side of her car.

Author's Notes:This
story is based on a tale I told my kids on Christmas a few years ago, when
they were 8 & 10 (now 12 & 14!!!).I recently found the old cassette of the story and listened to it. In
the original story, the boys’ names are Joshua and Michael, which happen
to be Stephen and Aaron’s middle names. When I saw the challenge from Phoenix
for a Christmas story, I wrote out this tale, added a dash of “Hardy”
flavor and a ‘Preface’. It’s
a bit sappy and predictable, but it is Christmas, the season for
sentimental stories.

DISCLAIMER: The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The
Hardy Boys Fan Fiction author(s) of the
Hardy Detective Agency have
just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The author(s) promise to give the
boys back when they are done with them. The
authors do claim copyright to any original characters in their stories. Please do
not borrow original characters without express permission of the author(s) in
question.